A New DOG-FRIENDLY Kitchen!!

Pergo Outlast+

For the past few years, we have rarely taken any photos of the boys in the kitchen area. You might have noticed that very few photos exist. That's mostly because the kitchen has remained existing in the 80s!

The most recent change was about 5 years ago when we updated the countertops to quartz. Unfortunately, the cabinets and flooring remained -- ugly 80s-looking honey oak cabinets, and floors that did not match. The laminate had started to chip in a couple places and the flooring below the sink and under the dog water dishes were starting to warp ever so slightly. Granted, that floor was probably 15 to 20 years old. But it was hideous. And ALL of it clashed. So I would very rarely take my camera out in that room to photograph the dogs.

Exhibit A:

Notice how the hue of the cabinets clashes with the laminate flooring. When you add in another golden hue to the picture (in the form of a fluffy canine companion), you have way too much going on and nothing works. I'm not a professional by any means, but I like to think I have at least a little bit of an artistic eye. This whole thing just wasn't working for me.

Thus I avoided the room at all costs when it came to dog photography.

What came next...

For the last few months we have been in the process of updating our main living area. Our living room got a new coat of paint, chair rail in the dining area, and a quick upgrade to the fireplace and mantle. We still will be adding a few things like crown molding, but that will come with time.

I desperately wanted to get to work on the kitchen. We started by staining the cabinets. They turned out really great and went together with the counter-tops.

When we started shopping for flooring, we looked at different materials. While shopping at Home Depot, one of the sales associates approached us while we were looking at the Pergo Outlast + display. He told us that this was the best laminate flooring on the market for dogs.

One of the main selling points, he pointed out, was the spill proof technology. It's design helps prevent liquid from seeping into the joints. Anticipating a new puppy in the coming weeks made this an important selling point. When Gill came home, we soon discovered he is definitely a water-dog. One of his favorite things to do is to dig into the water dish, sometimes knocking it over.

Pergo Outlast + has a wonderful variety of color selections. We looked at many samples, holding them up against the quartz countertop and against the cabinets, and we kept coming back to the Vintage Pewter Oak (see image to the left). It had the same kind of feel as the cabinets -- we like to call it a "beachy appearance," and that is one of our favorite places to visit!

Once the flooring was delivered, Gill had an obsession with it. He wanted to climb up on the packages and sit on it like a chair. Parker and Reser soon decided this was a fun thing to do and started doing the same thing.

After installation, it was clear that Parker, Reser and Gill loved the new Pergo flooring! This flooring has some texture to it so it's not as slick for the dogs when they walk in the room (a problem we had with our old flooring). We can toss the ball and they are eager to go after it -- and they still have traction. I'm not sure that's anything that the company points out, but it is something we noticed, especially after our experience with the previous laminate.

To test out the spill-proof technology, we did one simple thing: we fed the dogs. Every meal, we add water to their food in a slow feeder, and while they do slow down while eating their meals, there's always spillage.

Puppy approved!

We are thrilled with our new Pergo floor -- the appearance, the durability, and the fact that it is tailored especially for families like ours (two-legged AND four-legged). If you would like more information, head over to Pergo's website: https://na.pergo.com/

Check out our Vlog (part of our Day in the Life series on YouTube) to see the entire process! At the end of the video you might enjoy seeing the dogs (including Gill) trying out the skateboard on the floor -- it's so durable!